Alcobendas City Council

The Alcobendas City Council aimed to drive the adoption of Microsoft 365 as the digital collaboration framework for the organization, with the goal of optimizing the contracted licensing and laying the foundation for improvement in the following areas:

• Optimizing the use of Microsoft 365 tools
• Implementing best practices for using Microsoft Teams
• Establishing document management with SharePoint
• Incorporating advanced solutions through Power Platform
• Leveraging new AI capabilities

The City Council sought to carry out its digital transformation through everyday productivity tools to improve performance, boost internal motivation, and project a more modern image.

The Alcobendas City Council entrusted NexTReT to develop and implement an adoption and change management plan to promote the use of Microsoft 365 across the entire organization, deliver training on Microsoft 365 and change management, and provide support for questions and functionality related to Microsoft 365 products.

The number of Alcobendas City Council employees included in this project is 1,400 users, and the implementation is planned in well-defined phases, each structured around specific milestones.

Fase 1. Envision

Scenarios are identified and prioritized while learning about available resources and planning the implementation. Clear objectives are set to enable success measurement.
Four key groups are identified to connect the technology with the outcomes that matter to the City Council:

1. Executive Sponsors:
   Communicate the high-level vision and values of Microsoft 365 across the organization.
2. Success Owners:
   Ensure the objectives are aligned with helping people use and gain value from the new solution. A representative group of individuals from various City Council departments has been identified and selected.
3. Early Adopters:
   Appropriate participants for the Early Adoption Program, essential for gathering valuable insights and informing the organization-wide rollout.
4. Champions:
   Promote and help train their teams in the new ways of working. They build awareness, understanding, and engagement throughout the organization.

Interaction with all defined teams is managed through a dedicated Microsoft Teams environment created for the project, aimed at ensuring collaborative work. Regular control sessions are held with each team to continually assess the project’s health.

Fase 2. Incorporate

We work with the main stakeholders to create and launch the adoption plan. The environment is prepared, and the adoption approach is tested.

• Feedback is used to make adjustments before scaling to the entire organization.
• The adoption plan is created.
• It is launched for early adopters.
• The plan is refined.

1. Building Awareness Through End-User Engagement
   Success Owners ensure that business objectives are achieved by helping people use and gain value from the new Microsoft 365 solution through communications and engagement events.
2. Incorporating Success Stories
   Throughout the implementation, project team members and experts identify examples that demonstrate collaboration and teamwork across different departments.
3. Developing the Communication Strategy
   A communication strategy is developed to build awareness and excitement before, during, and throughout the project rollout.
   A relevant Communication Plan has been created, tailored to the project’s level of risk.
4. Creating the training strategy
   The developed training strategy focuses on explaining why the change is happening, using real work scenarios, leveraging multiple formats, and reinforcing learning through on-demand training and sessions on tips and best practices.
5. Building a sustainable community of experts
   Success Owners ensure that business objectives are achieved by helping people use and gain value from the new Microsoft 365 solution.
6. Create and launch the strategy of the Early Adoption Program
   The Early Adoption Program provided the City Council with insights that help it to implement Microsoft 365 for all users. A pilot has been developed as a simulation, among a representative group, which helps to prepare for the large-scale rollout.
7. Why this program is important
   This pilot allowed the City Council of Alcobendas to evaluate firsthand its impact, the benefits it brings, adjust it, and later decide to extrapolate it to the rest of the workers of the City Council.
8. Use the feedback from early users to adjust the adoption approach
   The feedback from the early users has been used to review the communication, training, and feedback plans. The general approach is adjusted based on the feedback received.

Fase 3. Generate value

Full-scale implementation and business success depend on usage and satisfaction. This requires planning through the Envision and Onboard phases, as well as ongoing operational excellence.

1. Track KPIs and end-user adoption
   Once the change was adopted, KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) were tracked and it was verified whether the City Council met them. The generation of satisfaction surveys was coordinated, which helped to understand the users’ knowledge and sentiment towards the new Microsoft 365 solution.
2. Access tracking reports and tools
   Microsoft 365 provides reports available to quickly view adoption metrics. These reports allow measuring success criteria and identifying areas for improvement.